


The road of Valerians and Lavenders

by LittleIceLiar



Category: LEGO Monkie Kid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Def more drastic than the show, Enemies to Friends, Fluff and Angst, Kinda, M/M, Magic, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, People Burning, Sleep, We Die Like Men, maybe sth more but idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27367927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleIceLiar/pseuds/LittleIceLiar
Summary: When MK woke up, he thought that everything was alright and the worst thing that could happen was angry Pigsy. This time he was wrong, so very wrong. The whole city had fallen asleep and he is the only one that can help them. When he really doesn't know what to do anymore, he meets a person that can help. Unfortunately that person is someone who hated him right from the start.
Relationships: MK/Red Son
Comments: 22
Kudos: 86





	1. Prolog

Earlier that evening, when MK woke up from his nap. He was lying on the desk in his room, in a very uncomfortable position. He had to fall asleep, when he was reading some Monkey King comics or watching one of the many marathons of The Monkey King: Animated Series. He couldn’t remember clearly.

He was too tired to move. His sleeping schedule was really messed up this week, mainly by various weird deliveries he had to do for Pigsy. Now that he had proven himself, the owner of the noodle shop decided that Monkey King’s powers can be used to help the business and the deliveries were getting more and more bizarre. Now he was just wondering what had woken him up. That must have been something big, because he was pretty certain that only an explosion could wake him up in this state.

Almost immediately he heard a loud crash, bang and something that resembled an explosion. He thought he was hearing things, so he looked out of the window. As he expected, there was nothing worth his attention in the nearest area, as that was all he could see through his half opened eyes. He looked up at the sky and narrowed his brows. There was something wrong with it. In the corners it was in a pretty bright orange colour, but the very middle was pitch black. How was that even possible, he wondered. It took him a little to get his brain to work normally, but when he did, he was terrified.

He was now completely awake and what he was seeing right in front of him, was an enormous cloud of thick black smoke, coming from the city centre. So he was right. Only an explosion could wake him up and that was exactly what had happened.

He stormed out of his room, Staff in hand. He didn’t even bother to put on his jacket and a minute later, he was speeding through the city in his delivery car only in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt.

While passing countless blocks and houses he noticed a recurring pattern that couldn't mean anything good. Almost in every house, there was a light shining through the windows, but no sound. The same with all the stores, restaurants and arcades. He took out his phone to check the internet. That was where people always talked about things, when they happened, but today... nothing. He scrolled far back on one of the more popular forums and there wasn't a single post since yesterday, even cat videos from Mei didn't show. He put his phone back in his pocket. Something was very wrong.

He arrived in the city center not long after. It took longer than he thought it would, because of weird traffic, but due to his knowledge of the side alleys in the city, he got there fairly quickly. Now looking at the first better crossroads, the state of the city was a thousand times worse than he thought it would be.

He could see nothing but disaster. On the main road countless cars hit each other. There was a raging in all directions, uncontrollable fire, that consumed everything MK could look at. Cars, buildings, nature. And yet it was as if no one noticed. There weren’t any people trying to help. There weren’t any people asking for help or running away. There was just no one. No. There was someone, but not in a way he wanted someone to be there. MK had never seen such things before and was more than losing it.

He could see only a few people. They all were acting weird. He could even say that they were acting as weird as it could get, when faced with mortal danger. They were sleeping. Just lying on the sidewalks, not moving. At first MK thought that they were dead, but when he came up to one girl, that was the closest to him, he saw that her chest was moving. Why was that happening? How could they just sleep, when all this destruction was going on, he didn’t know. But he was certain that it was some kind of magic.

MK shook his head. He couldn’t think about what was going on now. The fire was still raging and the cars nearby looked as if they could explode at any second. He mustered up the courage and ran towards the nearest car. First he had to save people from the fire. He struggled to open the door on the driver’s side, because of the heat, but he finally managed to. There was only one man inside and MK pulled him out. It looked as if he had severe burns all over his body, which had to be extremely painful, but he didn’t even flinch in his sleeping state. That was very wrong, thought MK.

He pulled people out of the cars for the next 20 minutes, with the fire getting closer and closer to him. He got them to safety using his staff to speed up the process. Then he took care of people on the sidewalks. In a short time he cleared the space near the fire. To somehow stop the flames, he destroyed a few hydrants so they would shoot water, because of the lack of a better idea. Surprisingly the fire stopped spreading so much and MK was really relieved. He then sat for a while on a nearby building, scouring the city from above to see if there were any more major collisions. Luckily there weren’t any.

MK took a deep breath. He put his hands up into the air and just enjoyed the breeze touching his palms. It wasn’t the coldest, but compared to the heat of a wildfire, it was a blessing. Thanks to rescuing people he now had some major burns on his whole arms and upper body. His shirt was massacred by the flames, but he knew that he had no time to mind it. He had to get over the pain and think. Think to save his friends and other people in the city.

There were two, maybe three things he knew for certain. One, everyone was asleep. Two, they were no longer endangered by the fires. Three, his friends were safe on the outskirts of the city. That was good enough. Now what he didn't know. He didn’t know how the sleeping worked. Will they wake up? Does the sleep deepen by the minute and after some time he won’t be able to save everyone? Was he the only one awake and if so, then why was that? And the most important thing, how in the hell was he supposed to help the people if he didn’t know what really happened? That was the worst. He was pretty sure he saw people dying today, burning into piles of ashes and he had no idea how to stop it.

MK was really freaking out. He knew that he couldn’t get the reality of what was happening hit him, because then he would have a full on mental breakdown and wouldn’t be of any help. He had to put that all aside and think of someone, who would know what happened. Someone powerful, who has an unlimited knowledge of the supernatural. Someone like… Sun WuKong!!

Why didn’t he think of his teacher earlier? He punched his head to punish himself for the stupidity. Of course! That was such an easy answer. The one who lived thousands of years and fought every kind of demon or monster. He would definitely know what was going on.

MK now had hope. He was really hyped that there was someone that could help him. He decided to get to the Flower Fruit mountain as fast as he could. He thought of his options. His delivery car was probably charcoal by now, so that wasn’t an option. The only thing he could do was launch himself on the staff and hope for the best. Right now that was the only reasonable option. So, he looked around. He had to figure out which way was the Mountain, because he had only one chance. Standing on the rooftop he pointed his staff at it. He gripped it really hard and thought of the place. In his mind he begged the staff to cooperate and surprisingly, it did.

He was flying through the sky for a good minute. It was way more time than he expected it to take, so when he landed his legs forgot how to walk. Standing on the beach he was still gripping his staff, noticing that his shirt had fallen off from the speed. Great. He shook his head and tried to take a step. He felt dizzy, but he knew that he had to keep going. He took a few trembling steps before starting walking fairly normally. He had to get to Monkey King’s cave fast.

When he got to the entrance of the cave he felt relieved and excited. WuKong would definitely tell him what was going on and all of his problems would be solved. He reached out his hand to the waterfall. When he felt the water touch his skin, he relaxed. He knew this place. Nothing here was wrong. It was such a different feeling from the one he had in the city. There was a bright light and the waterfall split in two. MK went through it into the cave.

He quickly went through the main compartment. The entrance to the heart of the cave was as always not guarded. MK hesitated a little before going in. He stood with his back to the wall breathing heavily. If Monkey King wasn’t inside, all hope would be lost. But he had to be. He was an immortal being. Some weird magic couldn’t affect him. Okay, now or never.

one...

two...

three...

He looked into the cave. Immediately he felt as if some heavy rock was taken off of him. WuKong was there. He was lying on a cloud that was floating in the middle. His tail waggling a few centimeters from the ground, on his chest a pack of peach chips. Like that all of MK’s problems were solved. All his problems were solved. He could ask WuKong now about everything that was happening. In a few seconds he would get a solution and go back to the city to save his friends. He would…

And then he saw it. WuKong’s chest. It was slowly rising and falling, just like the one of the people on the street. He was asleep.

MK’s world crumbled. His only hope was laid in WuKong and that hope was just taken from him. He fell to the floor. The staff rolled on the ground making a loud sound in a quiet cave. The boy was looking at the cloud for a little while, before tears formed in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly it was as if the adrenaline that kept him going for the last hour, vanished. He finally felt the burns on his arms that were caused by opening the doors of flaming cars. He cried harder, now not only because of the hopelessness, but the pain. It was getting worse by the second.

He felt like he couldn’t do anything. His only hope was Monkey King and now, when he was asleep, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t stop the weird spell on his own. He didn’t know a thing about magic. The lives of the people in the city were now lost. And it was all his fault. MK closed his eyes. In a second he knew that it was a mistake. The image of WuKong appeared in his mind. He was telling MK that he was not worthy of the power he got and MK knew that really well, maybe better than anyone. He knew that the real Monkey King wouldn’t tell him that straingth to his face, but he knew.

Why was that so hard? Being a hero. At first he thought it would all be glory and defeating strong opponents, but now it was all death and disappointment. His first fight with DBK was really destructive, but at that time he hadn’t thought of the consequences. He started understanding the responsibility only after Macaque’s and WuKong’s fight. He started to understand the dangers heroes had to put themselves through. The final moment of realization was when DBK went insane. That’s when the whole city was affected while he was away and he didn’t even know what was happening. Now he could understand how much pain comes with being a hero. And in times like this he was thinking that gods chose him wrong. He wasn’t cut out to be one.

"That’s pathetic. You are pathetic. Stand up and stop crying like a bitch" he thought. He had to at least try and not give up, because things didn’t go his way. There were still people counting on him. He couldn’t abandon them. It would be like saying that their lives are not worth saving and he couldn’t think like that. He had no right.

He wiped his face. The tears stung a little when they touched his burns, but he could feel the adrenaline rising again. He had to go back to the city, even if it meant going in circles for hours, in search for answers. He was prepared to spend this time. He really had no other choice. He rose from the ground holding his Staff in his hand.

He started going back to the city. His pace was a lot slower than before, but he was determined. He had to think of something before he got into the city. The most pressing questions right now were, “why did this happen?”, “why wasn’t he affected?” and “what could he do to stop it?”. The question that was the easiest to answer was “why wasn’t he affected?”. The main thing that contributed to the answer was WuKong. Why was MK awake, while the four times immortal Monkey King was asleep? The answer was pretty easy, when he thought about it a little more. Because of the Staff. Monkey King’s Staff was a magical weapon that reacted only to those with Monkey King’s powers and when MK had the Staff, it protected him from the more sneak attacks that aren’t necessarily physical. And the sleep plague was definitely some kind of spell.

That was a very logical conclusion that MK was surprised he was able to make. Mei and Tang were often the ones that came up with this type of theories. Now that they were… unavailable, he had to mostly think for himself. He tried not to shift his thoughts to them, but thinking was surprisingly easier, when he was asking himself, what his friends would do.

He arrived in the city half an hour later. He felt going into a city so quiet you could hear wings of a fly flapping. The weird thing was, that the city didn’t feel empty. Normally when quiet cities were described in comics or books they always felt “dead” and “deserted”, as if they were ghost cities. But not this one. You could feel that people were alive. When MK was passing people lying on the side walks, he thought that they belonged there, no matter how weird that thought was. They just looked cozy. There were no fires raging anymore. What was left from his rescue mission died down some time ago. All of the cars that earlier were blasting sirens were also quiet.

But he had no time to analyze what was different. He had to focus. He couldn’t let anything distract him from his task. He had to find some clues, to figure out what had happened. He had to think. Think, think, thi… what?


	2. CHAPTER 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more chaotic tha the last one. It came out gayer than I wanted it to, but I hope you'll enjoy reading it.

A loud crash interrupted MK’s thinking. It certainly wasn’t the sound of some random things just falling off on their own. There was definitely someone there. The boy tensed up, startled at the sudden noise. He cautiously looked around trying to spot the person responsible. He couldn’t see anyone around. That meant that they were in the next alley over.

MK slowly, trying to make as little sound as possible, started walking towards the road. It was rather hard as any sound seemed loud. Just like going into the kitchen at night. When he was close, he peeked around the corner. The road was mostly empty, but he could see a shadow of a person in the light from the lamps. Not knowing if that person would be an enemy or a friend he gripped his Staff, in case he had to fight and stepped onto the street. He could vaguely see that the person turned around and was now looking at him.

“Who are you!” he screamed in their direction. “What are you doing here!”

He couldn’t see the face of the person, but when they spoke he felt a mix of relief and sudden anger.

“I could ask you the same, Noodle Boy”

That voice belonged to Red Son. MK couldn’t say that he liked the guy very much, but it was a somewhat familiar face in all the chaos. The demon stepped closer to him, showing himself fully. He looked the same as always, with his proud posture and a royal expression. MK could see, in the dim light of street lamps, that Red Son was raising his eyebrow.

“Hm? Care to answer? Why are you here?” his voice was irritating. MK got a little angrier by the second. He was just reminded why he couldn’t stand the guy.

Red Son was getting closer and MK didn’t say a word. He just couldn’t answer the demon even if he wanted to. His mind was in a different place at the moment, analyzing the other’s presence.

“Everyone is asleep. I’m not, because of Monkey King’s Staff, but what is this guy doing here?” MK thought. “He couldn’t possibly not be affected, even WuKong was. Then how the hell was he here, standing and talking?”. To tell the truth there was only one explanation MK could think of. Red Son and the Demon Bull family were behind this. It just made sense. They wouldn’t curse themselves, that would be just stupid.

And that thought made MK properly angry. The guy was standing in front of him, just having the time of his life. He didn’t care how many people died! He didn’t care that they could never wake up! He was just enjoying himself! Maybe his face didn’t look like that, but MK knew what he was thinking. It was just the way demons were.

The boy took a fighting stance, which threw the demon off a little. He wasn’t hostile, so why was the kid defensive? But MK had his thoughts now engraved on the back of his skull. He was going to make Red Son pay for what he did to his friends.

MK ran forward and swung his Staff from above his head. The demon dodged the attack, but MK was prepared. He quickly turned to the side and extended the Staff. It hit Red Son and he flew a few meters backwards. He got up and the boy could see his eyes literally flaming with rage.

“You peasant!” the demon screamed. Flames surrounded his body and he attacked. MK had to make a quick dodge as the heat wave hit his face. He tried to attack again, but Red Son blocked the Staff with one hand and with the other he hit the boy in the stomach which caused the burns to worsen. MK caught that hand, enduring the pain and bent it backwards with his Staff. Red Son screamed with rage and tried to send a stream of fire towards the human, but he was too slow. The other one was acknowledging that he had an advantage and tried to use it. He got behind the demon and before he could do anything, he struck his back with the Staff. Red Son fell and rolled on the ground before another strike landed right where his head was.

“What is your problem?!” he screamed, getting up and jumping a few meters backwards.

MK didn’t answer. He was now beyond reason. He stood for a second breathing heavily, before trying to attack again. He now not only wanted to make Red Son pay, but he wanted to destroy him. He just couldn’t stand that the demon didn’t see anything wrong with his comments. How could he not know what this all was about?

Red Son saw an opening in this blind rage. When MK was running towards him, he went to meet him. He knew that if someone was as angry as MK, they wouldn’t pay attention to any technique. So he decided to use it. The boy tried swinging his Staff, but missed when Red Son ducked under his arm. He was still standing in front of the human. He punched him in the face with a fiery fist. MK stepped back a couple of steps, but Red Son kept coming. He attacked his legs, making the boy fall and immediately took care of his Staff knocking it out of his hand. With one hand he pinned down MK’s arm and the other, with a foot in heavy metal boots. His knee was on the human’s stomach and his other hand in front of his face with fire lingering on the palm. MK tried to struggle out of the hold, but Red Son was holding him down firmly. The demon could see MK’s rage die down slowly.

MK was breathing heavily. He was dripping with sweat, because of Red Son’s flames and the pain that was increasing as his rage pased.

“Why did you attack me?” Red Son asked, irritated. He put his hand closer to MK’s face.

“Because it’s your fault!” The boy said. “The Demon Bull family, again trying to take over the world”.

“What on earth are you talking about? Why would we do anything?” Red Son was confused. What did he do this time?

“You almost killed half of the city! And what was that for, huh!? Just so you could start your invasion while everyone was asleep!? So that no one could stop you!?” MK was still angry, or more irritated that Red Son was stupid enough not to know, what he was talking about. MK caught him in the act and he still tried denying anything.

“You are an absolute moron! How can you be so stupid!” Red Son was fuming. His hair started heating up a little. He didn’t know how MK came to the conclusion, that all that was happening as his fault, but he knew, that it was just stupid. “Do you really think that I would risk killing my own parents, just for the sake of TAKING OVER SOME STUPID CITY!?”

“OF COURSE!! YOU’RE A DEMON!”

“WELL, I WOULDN’T!”

MK realised what he just said and got flustered. He didn’t want to say that Red Son was some heartless creature… it just came out that way. The demon was still pinning him to the ground, but released his hold a little. He stopped trying to fry MK’s face and adjusted his position a little, so now he was holding him with hands and not legs.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to say that..” the boy said. He did look apologetic, but Red Son was angry. He didn’t care about that.

“Well you did, so fu-” he stopped himself. It didn’t match his royal origin to be cursing out peasants. “Never mind. Just don’t come in my way and maybe I won’t kill you. I have bigger problems”. He let go and tried walking away, but there was one problem, now MK was holding him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Do you know what happened?” MK tried to say something that would make Red Son forget his previous comment. “I mean, do you know who did this, if it wasn’t you?”

“Let go” Red Son tried walking away, but MK was still holding him. “Even if I knew something, I’m not telling you anything. So piss off”.

“Oh come on” MK let go, but when the demon went in some random direction, he followed him. “I said I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry..”

“No, I don’t need you if you’re just going to attack me and ruin all my plans. I’m not going to risk the lives of my parents because of you” Red Son was angry. How did this kid dare to want to work with him, when he just tried to kill him.

“But I can help you!” MK stopped following Red Son.

“You’re too stupid to help” the demon was now pretty far away “so don’t bother me anymore Noodle Boy”.

“But if we’re working together it will take less time! And we don’t know if this sleep will become permanent or not!”

Red Son stopped. That made sense. MK could see that he was fighting with himself. He didn’t know how much the demon knew, but that comment certainly poked his mind. MK had hope.

Red Son stood there for a while before saying: “Okay, I’ll take you with me, but I won’t tell you anything until I’m certain of your intentions”.

MK’s face lit up. He quickly ran the distance Red Son put between them and stood at his side. The demon didn’t look very happy, but he seemed to have made peace with the idea that this.. collaboration was necessary. Maybe it was a quick change of attitude he had towards MK, but time was not something he could afford right now. He had to make decisions quickly and hope they won’t backfire in the future.

“So now what” MK asked. He was kind of happy that he didn’t have to think alone. That was a nice change. Red Son looked him up and down and frowned.

“You will find a shirt”.

“Huh?” MK looked at himself. Red Son was right. He only now remembered that his shirt fell off when he was going to the Flower Fruit Mountain. “Oh, right. I’m going to get one”.

“You will. Now go, before I lose my last bits of patience”.

\----

MK came back twenty minutes later. Not only did he put on a shirt, but he packed his bag with things he thought would be necessary on their journey, like food or some ointment for his burns.

Red Son was waiting for him. He didn’t move since MK left. The demon had to be really stressed as normally he would be all over the place. That definitely wasn’t a good sign. He also didn’t make a comment about how long it took the boy to pack and didn’t call him a peasant. These also weren’t good signs.

When he saw MK he didn’t say anything and just started walking. He was going out of the city and the human followed him a few meters behind. He didn’t want to come into his companion’s personal space as he thought that he was still angry about the fight. Anyone would be, so MK just wanted to keep his distance.

They went out of the city and into a forest. It wasn’t the normal way MK would go as it was the opposite to where the Flower Fruit Mountain was located. The woods here were thick and didn’t look very welcoming in only the light of the moon. They didn’t light any light, so they looked even worse than they would if the two had some sort of a torch. The trees here didn’t look like the ones that would normally grow near a city. MK suspected that they were magical, as he found out from Monkey King, that most things were.

He didn’t want to say anything to Red Son. He was already making himself endure the burns as much as he could, so that he would not disturb the demon. If it was up to him, they would wait until the sun rose and continue their journey then. The fact that he had no idea where they were going also wasn’t helping.

Red Son wasn’t looking over the shoulder, trying to ignore the sound of the other person following him. He was annoyed that he was there, but he knew that it was for the best. As MK said and Red Son had a hard time admitting it, it will go a lot faster, when they work together. And time was the one thing they needed and didn’t know if they had.

The unknown was bothering both of them. That feeling of powerlessness was draining in ways that made it almost impossible to think about anything that was even mildly optimistic.

Red Son couldn’t stand that. He stopped. After him MK also stopped not knowing what was going on. He was standing still for a second before kicking a tree. MK jumped back a little, startled at the sudden action. The demon turned to him and the human could see the helplessness in his eyes.

“We’re stopping for a while. I can’t think straight in the night” said Red Son grimly. He then lit up the ground like a bonfire and sat beside it. He was too tired to think, walk or sleep. He was planning on sitting here, in the woods until he got better.

MK took off his bag and set it beside a tree. He then sat under it a good few meters from Red Son. He was glad that they stopped. He just wanted to go to sleep. He felt drained for some while already, but didn’t want to admit it. It was a hard day for him.

Even though, he knew he couldn’t sleep just yet. He had his eyes closed and in that state he started taking off his shirt. He had to apply the ointment he took on the journey, because the burns were not only painful, but they were going to leave some nasty scars.

Hearing the rustle behind him, Red Son looked over his shoulder. He was observing MK for a while. The struggling human was fun to look at. They were enemies, but his mind was too tired to think about it. He just didn’t care. After a few minutes it got boring, so he stood up and came up to MK.

“Stop it” he said. He knew how burns worked, he got a few during his time and knew that if the other one was so careless, he would make things worse. “Open your eyes and do it properly”.

MK already took off his shirt and was now trying to put on the substance. But it was going as well as you’d expect it too, when the person doing it has his eyes closed.

“Don’t wanna” he said. “I’ll do it properly in the morning, leave me alone”.

“You can’t do that, stupid” Red Son sat in front of him. He had enough of this human’s stupidity. If he left it like this, he was going to whine for days to come and the demon didn’t want to deal with it. “Give me your arms”.

MK stretched them out towards Red Son, who caught him by the forearms. The boy winced as the other one touched his damaged skin. The demon also closed his eyes. His skin lit up with a thin layer of fire that traveled towards his hands. The fire passed from one to another covering them both. MK felt only nice warmth and could feel the pain of the burns just go away. He was curious what was happening, so he opened his eyes a little. He was a little freaked out to see himself on fire, but the flames seemed to be healing him, not doing damage.

“What are you doing?” he asked Red Son.

“Healing you” he said, concentrating on the task. “If I don’t you’re going to ruin everything with your constant whining”.

“Oh” MK closed his eyes again. It felt nice. The fire was warm and cleansing. He was going to enjoy it as long as it lasted. Soon enough he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say, that I will post maybe once a week, or two weeks


	3. CHAPTER 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter will be a lOt more chill than the previous ones. I was really struggling with the beginning, but I hope you enjoy it

The two boys were walking through the woods for a few hours now. They woke up early in the morning, or Red Son woke up and then kicked MK awake. It hurt, but it suggested that the demon came back from his tired state and was now sane enough to be angry at everything. They both felt better after yesterday. They had some time to sleep off the events and also think them through. Now with fresh minds they were able to travel together without damaging each other in some ways.

MK was enjoying himself. He found it weird that he was able to relax in the presence of someone whom he hated and vice versa. But walking in silence was quite pleasant. They weren’t talking, as there wasn’t much to talk about. Of course, MK had questions, but Red Son said that he would leave the human in the middle of the woods if he tried pressing on, to reveal where they were headed. And MK chose to believe him. He thought it was better not to poke at the demon’s patience.

They were still traveling through the same woods that they made camp in yesterday. The trees were getting noticeably thicker by the hour, making it pretty dark even with the sun shining brightly. MK suspected that in the next 4 hours they would have to use some torch to get around. The woods were also full of life. The boy quite enjoyed listening to the birds, wondering what species they were, but there were some sounds that made him regret imagining.

Red Son, on the other hand, seemed quite familiar with the forest. While MK was jumpy the demon was walking steadily in one direction, not paying much attention to what was going on around him. Of course he sometimes commented on how annoying MK was, but there was nothing more. MK had to admit, he tried making weird sounds on purpose, to test the demon’s attention, but he almost got nothing out of him. Despite the lack of reaction, it was quite entertaining.

There weren’t many instances before, when they weren’t fighting so MK never really paid attention to Red Son, aside from trying not to get killed. Now that he had the chance, he noticed how similar the demon was to his mother. Even if Princess Iron Fan tried to kill him a million times, He could always acknowledge the majesty and nobility of the woman. Now he could see some of those qualities in Red Son. The demon was walking with a certain grace you could see in royals. He was sliding and not walking, with his head up high and this expression that told everyone that he was better than them, but in a way that made them agree with that statement. His face aside from this royal expression also had delicate facial features that he definitely inherited from his mother. They had the same small nose and well crafted eyes of a dignified beauty. On top of that the scar on the side of his face added more character to it rather than destroy the image. Even if they were enemies MK couldn’t deny that Princess Iron Fan was a true beauty. She and her son had this ancient charm that reminded him of priced ink wash paintings. That meant they were both beautiful or even downright hot.

“What are you looking at?” asked Red Son. He noticed that MK had gone awfully quiet and started staring at him. That made him a little uncomfortable, as he had no idea what was going through the human’s head.

“I was just thinking that, we never really talked aside from screaming at each other” MK said, still examining Red Son carefully.

“Of course not. I was trying to kill you, not make friends” he snorted contemptuously.

“But couldn’t you be… I don’t know… nice about it? “

“How do you expect someone to be nice about killing?” Red Son was quite confused. During all of his quite long life, he never heard someone say stuff like that. He couldn’t decide if he thought that MK was very naive or just stupid.

“Well, just don’t kill?” MK shrugged. He didn’t really know what to say. He just wanted to keep up the conversation, even if in the weirdest way possible. He just didn’t want to walk in silence anymore, even though it was quite pleasant at the beginning.

“Yeah, sure. Great idea” Red Son said, wanting to end the talk and concentrate on the task ahead of them. He had no intention in answering the human, or participating in this weird conversation. He looked at MK and saw that he was getting ready to start some sort of a debate. He wanted to have no part in it. “If you want to say something unnecessary, don’t” they stopped walking.

“Why, it will be nice to talk about something meaningless or just share our thoughts”.

“No. I have no intention in listening to you, I don’t want to hear about your day or your problems. I just don’t care. You are here just because it is better to not go alone anywhere, as everything here can and will kill you if it thinks that you’re vulnerable. And right now I’m debating whether taking you was really a good idea. I’d seriously rather be killed that be here with you, destroying my plans. So shut up and walk”.

“I…” MK did as the demon asked. He shut up. He didn’t expect Red Son to be so explosive. Even though he knew that he wasn’t that good at controlling his emotions, he didn’t think that he would blow up now. The boy was definitely startled by that.

And there was silence between them. The silence MK tried to avoid. After yesterday he started feeling really uncomfortable when he wasn’t hearing anything. When he was in the city yesterday and everyone was silent he felt like he was alone in the world and this loneliness and the thought that he had to do everything on his own. That helplessness was overwhelming and he hated every second of it. When he saw Red Son, beside wanting to kill him, he was relieved. That meant that he wasn’t alone. He was pretty sure that the demon felt similar. They both are on the edge of losing someone close to them and could do very little about it. Everything is just a possibility and nothing is certain. Will anyone wake up? Will they be okay? MK was sure that those thoughts were lingering somewhere in the back of Red Son’s mind.

Despite being on opposite sides, they were pretty similar. They were both young boys, with family of some kind. They both possessed a big power that could be sometimes overwhelming and they both had a role that they could not change. Even if one of these roles was being a hero and the other a villian.

Maybe in some other reality they could be friends, MK thought, but not in this one.

________

They were walking for a very long time. They didn’t stop for dinner, even though MK knew that it was a few hours after noon. That meant that they didn’t eat anything since they woke up. MK was wondering if Red Son even had to eat and just was ignoring the humanly nature of his companion out of spite.

He didn’t have to wonder for long, because the demon stopped in front of some opening at the edge of the forest. MK was surprised that he didn’t notice earlier that the woods were getting thinner. He wasn’t really paying that much attention to it, but he was confused why he didn’t point out the fact that they didn’t have to use a torch to get around the place as he predicted earlier.

When they stepped into the clearing, MK was taken aback. He was sure that there would be nothing significant there, but he was wrong. The place was really big for a simple clearing. The woods were surrounding it, but it was hard to notice, as they were so far, they were almost fading into the horizon. The grass there was fluffy and well kept, with small purple flowers growing all over the place. It was really quite beautiful.

The thing that catched the eye the most in this clearing, was a big stone gate in the middle of it. It was grown all over with the small flowers that seemed to be gathering at its base. Leading to the gate was a nice stone road that was probably built in the ancient times.

MK was wondering why Red Son led them here, when the demon turned to him and said.

“Now, even if I don’t want to, I think it would be better if you knew what we’re doing here and where we are going” he saw that MK wanted to speak up so he put his hand over the humans mouth. “Don’t interrupt me. You shall be quiet until I have finished speaking” he took the hand off and waited for a few seconds to see if MK will listen to him. When he was sure, he started explaining. “Now we will enter the kingdom of The Nightmare. You can feel sudden dizziness and confusion as it is located far underground. In there he is the most powerful being, so you will not speak to him and leave diplomacy to me. Also don’t smell or eat everything. If you can, don’t look anyone in the eye” Red Son said and waited for MK to confirm that he understood. When he did, the demon just went onto the road leaving him behind.

MK was quite confused by this explanation. He met the Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan, but he never crossed paths with someone who he was not allowed to look at. Also he found the comment about not smelling anything weird. What could be there to smell in a cave? He couldn’t think of anything.

He started walking after the demon, looking around. He wanted to get a better look at the clearing as it couldn’t be that far from the city and he wanted to show this place to his friends.. when they wake up of course. He looked back trying to spot the city, but the trees were tall and seemed impenetrable. He was disappointed. He ran up to Red Son, deciding to walk closer to him, as he suddenly felt very weird, being separated.

They walked up to the gate. It seemed almost five times taller up close and MK felt somewhat intimidated by it. Red Son didn’t seem so bothered and started walking around the gate humming something to himself. MK was wondering why, but he decided not to interrupt in case it was some sort of an ancient demon ritual. He stepped back a couple of steps, when the gate cracked. At first they were small scratches on its surface, but with time and the strength with which Red Son sang, big chunks of stone started falling to the ground. The human was sure that something went wrong and was really freaked out when he noticed that he couldn’t see what was behind the gate in places where the stone fell off. It seemed as if there was some sort of a pitch black goo filling up the cracks. Red Son didn’t seem disturbed in the slightest by what was happening and still singing, he stood in front of the gate.

Then suddenly he stopped singing and everything fell quiet. Nothing could be heard and MK felt as if someone turned off the sound. He raised his hand to his ear to check if he was deaf and in that moment the rest of the gate exploded. Chunks of stone went in every direction, but avoiding the two boys. MK was looking at the gate with his mouth open when he realised that the weird goo was gone and a road appeared in its place.

“Let’s go” said Red Son, not looking at the human and stepping onto the road. MK followed him.

As Red Son said, MK immediately felt dizzy. He grabbed his head and leaned on a wall that was beside the road. The human had his eyes closed for a minute, before he got used to this dull thumping in his head. It was getting better, but very slowly. He just had to deal with it.

When he opened his eyes he noticed that he was definitely in the prettiest cave he had ever seen. The road he and Red Son were on was decorated with some plants that seemed to be growing out of the walls. It led to a bigger cave that was also really impressive.

The lightning seemed to be provided by lamps that were lit up with fireflies and were located every few meters near the other roads that were carved into the stone around the cave. Some of them seemed to lead to small gardens of white and purple flowers that weren’t growing only where they were supposed to. MK thought that the atmosphere in the cave reminded him of elvyn societies that he knew from fantasy books or games. As they were walking down into the bottom of the cave he noticed the increase in two types of flowers that he found the most beautiful from them all and as he realised where also the ones growing around the gate above the ground. When they were pretty low he decided to kneel down and take a closer look at the flowers.

“I told you not to smell anything!” Red Son yanked him up by the collar. “Everything here is meant to kill you, so don’t touch anything, okay?”

“Yeah sure, sorry about that” MK was confused. How could these flowers kill him? But he decided not to risk his life and just followed closely behind Red Son.

At the bottom of the cave, there was a small spiral staircase leading even lower into the ground. When they walked down past like one or two levels of solid stone they came into a smaller cave in which looked more like a royal chamber with columns carved inside the walls. Near one of the walls there was a tree. Or more of a throne made from grey branches of an old and beautiful oak. On this tree there was a man sitting. He had been looking at them ever since they came through the ceiling. MK tried to avoid looking at the man, but he was just so intrigued by him, it felt almost impossible. He was wearing a black robe with little silver clouds that seemed to be traveling along his sleeves and had long snow white hair that was braided in little braids and tied into a long ponytail.

When they stood in front of him he smiled at Red Son and said:

“Welcome young prince. How can I help you?”


	4. CHAPTER 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than the other ones. I had fun writing it and got carried away. (It was supposed to be longer, but I decided to cut it earlier)

The Nightmare stood up from his throne and kneeled in front of them. MK was a little surprised. He didn’t expect this man, who Red Son warned him about, to be so… subordinate. He thought that it was kind of weird, but maybe it was some kind of demon courtesy he was too human to understand.

“My honor, Nightmare. Now rise and let’s talk” said Red Son and the man stood up.

“It’s an honor to have you here, Your Highness. May I ask, what brings you to such a place? I thought you and your mother decided to reside permanently in the upper world. Has something changed?” the Nightmare stood in front of them, looming over Red Son. He clearly tried to intimidate the boy with his presence, even though he seemed genuinely interested and respectful towards Red Son.

“We still have unfinished business there” he looked at MK, who suddenly felt weird “so I am here not to come back, but to ask for advice. It’s a pressing matter and I must apologize for coming here unannounced” Red Son bowed his head in apology. The human had never seen him so calm and collected. He felt as if he was looking at a completely different person. He couldn’t believe that it was the same screaming demon, who wanted to kill everything if it so much as stood the wrong way.

“Thank you. But before we start talking, would you be so kind and introduce me to your companion, Your Highness? I suspect he’s from afar?”

“No. He is the new successor of Monkey King’s power. I apologize if he acts rude. He is not accustomed to our traditions” Red Son nodded to MK, signalizing him to step forward.

MK was really confused. He didn’t expect this to be some sort of a political meet up, where the two parties would stretch out the introduction just for the sake of tradition. He truly thought that they were going to some sort of a powerful magician, who would help them in lifting the sleep spell.

“Hello” he said “my name is MK. I and Red Son are here to..”

“Is that the famous Staff?” the boy didn’t notice, when the Nightmare moved behind him. He was gently driving his finger over the golden golden gouging of the weapon, admiring its craftsmanship. MK took his Staff off his back and moved away from the man. Now THAT was definitely something he was not prepared for. The Nightmare seemed to be amused by MK. He had this look that said that he finds humans entertaining. “I didn’t know that it was removed” he turned to Red Son. “Does that mean that His Highness was released from his prison? I must congratulate you then.”

“Yes, he was. My mother and I worked really hard for that moment. Thank you” he pulled MK out of the way and stepped closer to the Nightmare. “But that’s not why we’re here. You see, the upper world was attacked and I have grounds to suspect that you might know something about it”.

“Why would you imply something like that. You know that I shall not leave this place until I die, Your Highness. How could I have something to do with your upper worldly affairs” the man smiled and started walking to his throne.

“They all fell asleep” said Red Son and the Nightmare froze. “Every single one of them. And we both know that only you possess such powers”.

“Oh, how you flatter me, Your Highness. And yes, you are right” he slowly turned towards the boys. “Only I hold power to put people and demons to sleep. And yet I cannot do this alone. I could if I had some other means by which my magic could be distributed above the ground” MK noticed that something was wrong with the cave. Everything seemed a little more darker and blurrier than before. “Luckily for me, I do”.

“Oh you son of a-” Red Son was ready to burst. He was holding himself back, ever since they walked through the ceiling. He was not made for the royal life, he hated tradition and wanted to roast this smirking guy for a long time. A long time before his father was captured. Maybe since their first meeting all those years ago. Now he had the chance. Now he had a good enough reason for it not to be a crime, but a war necessity. Now he could blow his head off and eat his eyeballs. Tiny sparks flickered at his fingertips. He got ready to launch himself at the Nightmare. Behind him MK did the same and took a fighting stance. 

Looking at them the man laughed.

“You are very entertaining Your Highness. I can call myself lucky for getting to see you drop the demon customs” he was smiling in a disturbing way. Like he knew that he had the upper hand. “but on the other hand, you’ve always had an explosive personality”.

Red Son had a hard time controlling himself. It was the time he regretted taking MK, as the boy was human and could be hurt by the fire. So he couldn’t just explode. He ran at the man and tried to punch him in the face. He just dodged, still smiling.

“Come here you son of a bitch! So I can burn your organs for what you did!”

“And what did I do, huh? Is it a crime to ensure one's position in this world?” they were fighting with fire burning everywhere and the Nightmare calmly dodging every attack. MK wasn’t sure if to join in the battle or stay out of it. He felt like if he joined, he would be evaporated immediately from the pure rage that Red Son was showing. But still, he had to help the demon.

“It is if you kill my parents during the process!”

“Oh Your Highness” the man chuckled “they aren’t dead. But they will be if you lay another finger on me”.

“I DON’T CARE!” Red Son exploded. MK felt the heat worse than before. He used the Staff to guard himself from the flames. He had to step in. This was getting out of control.

MK started walking towards the two, who were now covered by fire and weird black smoke. It looked bad. He launched himself into the air taking a swing with his Staff and hoping that who he hit was the enemy.

His attack was met with a force that he did not expect. It felt as if he hit a brick wall. He wondered for a second, what was happening, when from the smoke a leg emerged. A long hairy leg of a spider. Following was the rest of the body of a spider, that was merged into one with a beautiful woman.

Why was she here?

The Spider Queen showed herself in her full glory. She used the moment in which MK was just standing, dumbfounded and grabbed him by the arm with one of her hands. He tried to break free, but her hold was steel-like. Unbreakable. She took him to one of the columns near the wall and smiled, before smashing him into the stone.

He felt massive pain in his head and his vision blurred from the tears. He loosened his body and the Staff fell out of his hands. That was pathetic. Even though no one here had the power to take it, it felt awful. It was against any of the Monkey King’s teachings.

“What are you doing Noodle Boy!” Red Son shouted, taking a peek at the situation at the human’s side. With that one moment of distraction he got hit on the head.

“Don’t look away, Your Highness. I’m sure your parents taught you that” and the Nightmare kicked Red Son in the head.

They both, Red Son on the floor and MK, up against the wall, fainted.

__________

They woke up, tied to the columns near the big throne. The Nightmare and the Spider Queen were standing in front of them. Observing.

MK was just dangling from the wall trying to think of a logical plan that could help them to get away. Red Son on the other hand was cursing and screaming at the two.

“You both are so entertaining” said the man. He had this weird spark in his eye. The human thought that this guy never left the underground. He felt kind of sad for him. Of course under all the anger he felt right now. “I wish I have done this earlier. This is so much fun” he turned to the woman. She smiled and nodded observing MK intently.

The boy looked around and noticed that his Staff was lying where it was dropped. And there were scratch marks around it. So they tried to lift it, but failed. That was good.

“Now, what do you want me to start with? The time your friends have left or the means by which I accomplished my goal. Hm?” the man looked at both of them.

“Why would I want to know!” shouted Red Son. “I’ll kill you in your sleep!”

“But I don’t sleep Your Highness, you’ll have to postpone that for another time” he chuckled “So?”

“You really want us to choose how you’ll explain your plan to us? Isn’t that stupid? We’ll know what you’re planning. We could stop you” MK was confused. Was this the moment, when the villains explained all their plans to the main characters? Was that what it felt like?

“You are precious by thinking you’ll be alive in the next hour. I don’t know why not explain. Everyone who is conscious on the surface already knows my plan. Except for you two. You can be my entertainment”.

“Then you pick. What do you want to say the most?” MK tried to be smooth. He tried to seem like he was not afraid. He had to make some time for them. And how better, than distracting the Nightmare. He had to think of something to take care of the Spider Queen too. Even if they got out, they couldn’t face them both at the same time. They had to split them apart.

“Oh I would like to tell you how I did it, but that part comes with a surprise, so let me tell the story from the beginning” the Nightmare was smiling. He was silent for a little, but he finally started talking. “In my work, all I do is interact with people. Not in the sense in which human beings do it, but in the spiritual one. I only come out of this place in dreams. Good ones and bad ones. Yet only my consciousness leaves, so my body is stuck down here. After millenia it gets boring. Even this place, my little oasis, makes me sick. I designed it myself and I can change everything here at will, but I got bored. I wanted to talk to people, observe them. And since I can only talk through their imagination the best choice was to force them to sleep” he came closer to MK, being maybe two feet away from him. He focused on the human, ignoring Red Son’s hateful hissing. “He knows how it works, so I’ll tell this part only to you. People fall asleep on their own. I can’t force them and they only sometimes dream. But I can enforce dreams if the sleep is artificial, that is the limitation. So I had to find someone, who would be on board with my plan. And luckily heaven's sent me this angel right there” he pointed at the Spider Queen, who smiled wickedly. “She was the key. I had the means and she had the ability. So together we were able to just..” he snapped his fingers “turn them off”.

The Nightmare walked back to the Spider. He pulled something out of his pocket. He looked at the Spider Queen, who took the thing out of his hand.

“Now the surprise” she said. She came closer. She, unlike her companion, ignored MK and went straight to Red Son. She stood further away, to not be in range of the demon’s kick. She showed him what she was holding in her hand and Red Son automatically froze. She smiled. MK tried to get a good look at the thing, but he didn’t see anything threatening. It was just a small bottle of blue-ish liquid. What could be so terrifying about that?

The Spider came closer to the demon, opening the bottle. He turned his head trying to get the furthest away from her. It was the first time, when he looked at MK with fear. The woman came closer and held down his head, turning it towards her. Her smile grew wider as she held the bottle up to the demon nose. MK could see as Red Son tried not to breathe, but the Spider poured some liquid on her hand and shoved it into his face. The human was certain that this time the demon had to breathe in the fumes. The Spider Queen looked at MK and went up to him too. She wanted to force him to smell this weird liquid too. MK was certain that this was the moment of his doom. If he only had his Staff, he could just smack her and try to get away. She was closer and closer, when..

“Stop!” shouted the Nightmare. The woman turned to him with a confused look on her face. “It won’t work on him, so we better not be wasting it”.

“But why? He’s just a normal human”.

“He is the successor of Sun WuKong. Such tricks won’t work on him. Especially when the Staff is so close. If we want to get rid of him, let him fight. He didn’t look like a threat earlier, so it won’t be a problem” the man stepped closer to the woman and the human. “We need to kill him the old-fashioned way”.

The Nightmare held up his hand and the thing binding MK to the column just let him go. He fell to the floor and stood up immediately. Although he didn’t move. He wasn’t reaching for his Staff or launching himself at the man. He was just observing his moves, trying to decide whether he was right saying that MK had no chance beating him.

“What’s wrong my boy? Are you scared?” the Nightmare laughed and the woman did the same. They were both standing in front of him with wicked grins on their faces.

“No” he replied, still analyzing the situation. “I’m just wondering. It wouldn’t be exactly fair if you both fought at the same time, would it?”

“Oh, of course not” the Spider Queen said and stepped back. “I’ll give the pleasure of killing you to him. In exchange I can keep your body when you die. We agreed on it earlier. He has fun and I have dinner” The Nightmare turned to the woman and bowed to her, in recognition of her kindness.

MK took a few steps toward the Staff and when no one tried to stop him, he ran up to it and picked it up from the floor. He took a fighting stance, seeing the Nightmare do the same in the opposite corner of the cave. MK took notice of the fact that the Spider Queen said “when” you die and not “if” you die. That made him feel a little nauseous. They really didn’t think that he had any chance of beating them.

MK took a little peek to the side, wondering what was happening to Red Son. The two talked as if he was lost and didn’t matter anymore, so he was a little scared that the demon was already gone. But he wasn’t. He was dangling from the column, but he was very much alive and awake. That was good. They still had a chance.

The human tried to ignore all the weird feelings that normally should cancel each other out. Having hope and losing it at the same time, really messed with his mind. He couldn’t think clearly. 

The Nightmare on the other hand was calm. Standing steadily in one position, waiting for MK.

That set the human off. He wasn’t as angry as when he thought that Red Son was the culprit, but seeing the man just stand there, looking as if nothing really happened, was annoying.

He started running towards the Nightmare, taking a good swing at his face. He just dodged. The boy tried again and again. Nothing worked. He sometimes hit walls, the floor or columns, making cracks in their surface, but he couldn’t even scratch the man. And he didn’t even try to fight back.

MK was pretty angry that he wasn’t taken as a serious threat. Up to this point, even when he faced far more experienced and powerful opponents, he was always taken seriously. And this guy was just smiling, like he didn’t even have to try to beat the human. That was awful. It really took a jab at MK’s self-esteem. And he hated it.

He got even angrier when time passed. He was slowly getting tired and in the back he heard the laughs of the Spider Queen, who seemed to enjoy the show that the Nightmare was putting on for her. The man even stopped dodging once in a while, to send a small wave in her direction and then almost barely avoiding the next swing. That always made the woman cheer even harder for him. MK was getting sick of it.

“STOP RUNNING ALREADY!” he shouted. They both stopped. The human was breathing heavily.

“Oh.. Are we tired?” the man used a sweet tone that made MK want to puke.

“It’s not an honorable fight if you always run”.

“But it is my dear. I don’t tell you that your technique is invalid, so don’t comment on mine. Or should I say that you can’t use your little Staff?” the Nightmare was having fun. MK could feel it.

“You are truly pathetic”.

“No. We just have different values” the man started walking towards him. MK took a few steps back. “It’s not my fault that your master taught you that honesty is a way to win. I don’t know if I should laugh or pity you. Your Sun WuKong turned out to be a scam. He never taught you anything” he laughed.

The boy was getting angry, but he knew that he had to push his emotions away. They didn’t help and he was already dealing with enough guilt to add disappointment to it. It would just be too much. He took a deep breath.

“I think he taught me enough” said MK and threw his Staff upwards, with all his might, breaking the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be one of my favourite chapters in this whole work. I'll just say that I do love me some SpicyNoodles


	5. CHAPTER 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a kind of make up for sacrificing some of the SpicyNoodles relationship for the sake of the plot. So, here you go. (and I'm sorry if the beginning is written weirdly, I had a crisis)

The ceiling collapsed. MK clung to one wall trying desperately not to get smashed by the rocks falling down. He knew that his Staff was now buried under all of the stones and he couldn’t do anything if someone survived the collapse. He just had to pray that the smashed ceiling fell on the Nightmare and the Spider Queen. If it didn’t, then he was already dead.

He stood with his eyes closed, waiting for all the noise to stop. When it did he opened his eyes and looked around. Almost all of the cave was now buried under big rocks. The staircase was also damaged, but he knew that he could manage to get out. The columns were surprisingly intact, which was one on the upsides.

He couldn’t hear anyone other than Red Son still struggling in his bonds. That was good. He ran up to the demon and started trying to set him free.

“You could at least give me a heads up” said Red Son, when his feet touched the floor. “You almost killed me”.

“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t tell you my plan which, by the way, just saved us” MK started digging in the pile of stones in hopes of finding his Staff. They couldn’t get away from here if he couldn’t find it. “Can you help me? I’m trying to get us out. Do something useful”.

The only thing from Red Son’s side was silence. MK stopped digging and turned to him. The demon was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked the human. In all that fighting he totally forgot that the boy was probably poisoned by the Nightmare.

“Yes. Let’s just get out of here”.

MK finally found the Staff. Luckily it was buried just next to him. If it was a little further he probably wouldn’t have found it in the next hour or two. He and Red Son struggled to go up the damaged stairs into the outer cave and then he had to help the demon go up to the surface. Something was wrong with him, but he decided not to tell what until they reached the gate. He said that it was a matter best not discussed in the enemy lair. That was something MK could get behind. It was better not to say things if there was even a possibility of being eavesdropped on.

“We need to destroy the gate” said Red Son, when they went through it. “That will slow them down if they decide to go after us and I know that they will”.

“Isn’t this the only way in? I thought that destroying it would lock them in for good”.

“No, they have many other entrances. That’s how they can travel quickly to almost any part of the land. The gates are like portals and that cave is like a fortress. There is never only one way out”.

“I guess you’re right” said MK and stepped back a little. He took a swing and threw the staff at the stone gate. It shattered leaving behind just a pile of rocks and weird black goo.

“I’m always right”.

_________

They made a small camp on the edge of the clearing. They couldn’t be easily seen, but it was the perfect spot to observe what was going on out in the open. Red Son set a little fire and then just sat on the ground and closed his eyes. MK sat right next to him. He looked at the demon and it wasn’t looking good. All the flare that the demon naturally had, seemed to fade. He was more collected, quiet and that was weird for someone who screamed, because a flower looked at him wrong.

“What did they do to you? What was the liquid in that bottle?”

“It was a way for us to get the cure”.

“What?”

“Because they drugged me, now we know what happened to all those people in the city” Red Son said, still with his eyes closed. He sounded as if he was falling asleep. And that was not good.

“You can really tell what it was? That was just a random poison, how can you be sure that you can identify it?”

“Because I have basic knowledge and am not entirely stupid. Didn’t your parents teach you how to distinguish potions?”

“It’s not exactly a common skill, you know?” MK was surprised that the demon upbringing was so different. He always thought that it wasn’t. But then again he never really wondered how demons are raised.

“But if you had some skills, you would know that this was one of the strongest sleep potions ever created. A purified extract from the flowers of a Valerian or a Lavender, maybe even both at the same time. The thing is that these flowers are what gave the Nightmare power over other demons in the dream industry. He can create them with a snap of his fingers and they are his favourite when it comes to ingredients in poisons and potions”.

“You seem to know a lot about that guy” MK noticed, at which Red Son snorted.

“You can say that we have… history” he said. He really didn’t want to talk about it. And right now there were more pressing matters at hand. “But because we know what was used, we can get the antidote”.

“So you know even that?”

“My god, yes, I know that” he opened his eyes to look at the human. “We need to get Trillium”.

“A what?”

“A flower, stupid. We need a potion that will cancel out the effects of the previous one. And that is the only thing strong enough to do it. So now” he laid down and closed his eyes again “I am going to sleep. There is no way in hell I stay up a second longer”.

“But won’t it be permanent? Like your sleep?” MK was a little worried. He knew that he couldn’t get the antidote on his own. He needed Red Son for that.

“Not yet. Right now my core is trying to fight off the potion. It will take effect in maybe two days, so we don’t have much time. But now, I don’t care about that. I’m going to sleep and I will rip your shins out if you try to wake me up”.

Then he just rolled over, away from MK and presumably, fell asleep right then and there.

________

MK fell asleep in the afternoon, when he decided to take a short nap, but woke up well into the night. The first thing he noticed was that Red Son was already awake. He looked bad, with bags under his eyes, staring blankly into the fire. He had to be extremely tired, but MK could see that he was trying his best not to fall asleep again.

“You awake?” MK pushed himself from the ground and sat near the demon. It took Red Son a minute to focus on the human next to him.

“For a while now” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t sleep for too long. The potion will take less time to affect me completely if I do. So now I’m struggling”.

“Keep it up. You’re the only one, who can get us the antidote” MK sighed. He was also tider, but thought it would be better to keep the demon company, while he’s having a hard time.

“I know that. You don’t have to remind me”.

“If you just told me where to look..”

“Oh nonononono, no. I don’t want to give my life into your incapable hands. You’d kill me before I fell asleep for good. You’d probably kill us all and I can’t take the risk” Red Son pulled his knees to his chest. He really wanted to sleep.

“Oh don’t be so dramatic” MK pouted “why do you even care about anyone else? It’s not like you have friends or something…”

“I have a family? Can’t you remember? My father tried to kill you like.. a couple of times?”

“Oh yeah. I sometimes forget” the human smiled. He wasn’t joking. He sometimes did forget that Red Son and Demon Bull King were related. But he had no doubts when it came to Princess Iron Fan. They looked alike.

“Pathetic” scoffed.

“Well, you don’t exactly look… related. I mean he is part bull and you look” he wondered how to put it “definitely more human. Is he your biological dad or?”

“Yes, he is my real father. I don’t know why you think otherwise. We are similar in other ways other than looks. It should be pretty obvious, even for a human like you”.

“You do have a similar way with words. Screaming at people, temper tantrums and weird vocabulary that I don’t think anyone used in a couple decades. Like, who says peasant anymore?” They sat in silence for a while. MK could see that Red Son was struggling. He tried hard not to fall asleep, but it was getting harder and harder. The conversation helped occupy his mind with something other than tiredness. “I have to ask” MK started talking again “I always wondered why do you stay with your parents? Even if they are blood, I don’t think they treat you very well. I’ve heard your mother call you names before”.

“They are short-tempered, but that’s just how they are. Most demons are this way. It’s normal when you get used to it. But there is a reason I stay with them” said Red Son, putting his hands closer to the fire. MK did the same. “As you know my mother is really powerful. She can do almost anything. But my father is.. a different case. He is not as powerful. He’s not an amazing strategist, but fighting is what keeps him going. You know, revenge” the demon sighed. “It’s kind of weird that the Demon Bull King needs us, but he does. He’s been having problems ever since getting out of that mountain. We need to help him get his revenge and… pump up self-esteem a little. It would be awful if he broke down. Not only for the rest of the demons that think of him as a legend, but to us too, his family. We love him and despite how awful he is we need to help him get over it” Red Son fell silent. He seemed to be thinking about something. Then he shook his head and looked at his knees. “Why am I telling you this?”

“You just wanted to? I mean everybody wants to talk to someone. From time to time” MK said. “So, since you told me something I will also start oversharing. Sounds good?”

“Yeah, I think so” Red Son looked at the boy. “But what can you tell me that I already don’t know about you? I’m pretty sure I know everything about your friends, your work, your master?”

“Well… there is this one thing I’m pretty sure you don’t know about”.

“Do you have some problems? You and your hero complex? I can’t even imagine that. I mean I have never seen you have doubts. You always go into battle head on, when you know it can save people” Red Son looked at the fire again. “It’s pretty damn annoying, if I do say so myself”.

“Thank you, but no. I do have doubts, but there is something different I wanted to talk about. Something new” MK rubbed his hands together. “So, ever since everyone fell asleep, there is this silence. I feel like I’m the only person in the whole world and to tell you the truth, It’s pretty damn terrifying. And even though I know that you are awake and now that other demons are too, that feeling is not going away. That weird ringing in my ears. On top of that there is sleep. I didn’t notice it the first time we left the city, but now, I’m also scared that I won’t wake up. That they somehow got me and with that all of the people are doomed to sleep forever. My friends will die if I fall asleep. I just feel like I can’t do that. But it’s a basic human need and I can’t just ignore it. And I don’t know what to do with myself. I have so many contradicting feelings I feel like I’m going to explode”.

Red Son nodded. He knew what the human was talking about. The fear of failure. The fear that if you close your eyes the whole world will fall apart.

“I know what you mean” the demon whispered. “I don’t like admitting that, but in some ways we are pretty similar” said the demon. MK smiled and moved closer to Red Son. The demon looked at him with his tired eyes. They were both struggling, but right now, telling each other what was on their minds did bring some kind of relief.

MK took Red Son’s hand. Normally the demon would pull away, but he felt pretty comfortable with the human. It was warm and ensuring. Even if they were on the opposite sides right now, you could say that they were on their side.

“That was the most normal conversation I think we’ve ever had. Just sitting, talking about feelings” MK was pretty pleased with that. He was making new friends in the face of danger and that felt pretty good. He stroked the demon’s hand.

“I think so too. And it wasn’t half as bad as I imagined it to be” Red Son was observing their hands and what MK was doing.

“You thought about us being friends before? That’s kind of unexpected”.

“Oh shut up. If you lived surrounded by machines, you would also think about being friends with other people. I think that that’s pretty normal”.

“No, you’re right. Isolation is not good for people our age. Can make you go crazy” said MK, nodding his head.

“Yeah, it can” Red Son rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He adjusted the other one intertwining his fingers with MK’s. The human was a little surprised, but he smiled, knowing that it’s just the demon getting used to having someone on his side. It was a nice feeling, being that person.

“You’re going soft”.

“Maybe I am. But to tell you the truth, it’s not that bad. Besides, right now I’m just too tired to care. So enjoy your little moment” said Red Son.

“You’re more bearable this way. You’re not screaming so much…”

“What is it with you and my screaming? Whenever we talk about me, you always mention that”.

“Well, you know… That is basically everything I knew about you, when we were fighting” explained MK. “That you scream a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. And now I find out that you are some kind of a royal? A prince even?”

“If you noticed that now, the you are pretty stupid” the demon laughed. “My father’s title is the Demon Bull King and my mother is a princess. I think it’s pretty easy to figure out what that makes me”.

“Oh yeah... I forgot about that”.

“My god, you really are slow” Red Son shook his head in disbelief. “But you are human and they are a little… uneducated”.

“Now, that was insulting” said MK. “Do you really think that?”

“Not personally, but it’s a pretty funny joke within the demon community. We sometimes call each other human for insults. It’s just fun”.

“You know, when people call each other a demon it’s pretty.. damaging. Said in a bad moment can sometimes break you”.

“I can see that” said Red Son. “We are not exactly role models”.

“No, pretty sure you’re not” MK agreed and silence fell between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a little shorter than the previous one and I'm sorry for that


	6. CHAPTER 5

MK woke up just as the sun rose. He noticed that Red Son was already up, but he seriously doubted that the demon even fell asleep in the first place. The boy woke up a couple of times during the night and every time Red Son was there, just staring into space. They started a conversation a couple of times and it seemed that listening to MK helped him cope a little with his situation. The bags under his eyes were darkening with every hour and it made MK feel guilty for some reason. He must have suffered a lot.

The boy stood up, came closer to Red Son and shook him gently to get his attention. He was really out of it.

“Oh, hey” the demon rubbed his eyes “You awake?”

“Yeah and I’m freaking hungry. I just realised that we haven’t eaten anything since like… yesterday morning” said MK looking around to find his bag. He tossed it somewhere the night before and really didn’t know where it was. “But I don’t think that you’ve even noticed”.

“Not really. I don’t eat much”.

“I figured” MK was now taking out some food from his backpack, which was laying under a tree a couple of meters away. He opened a pack of cookies and stared at them for a while. He started eating them. After a couple of minutes he finished the first pack and opened another. “You really don’t want some?” Red Son looked absently at the pack. He seemed to think about it a little. It turned out that he was just staring into space. MK waved his hand before the demon’s face. He shook his head and focused his eyes.

“No” he said finally and turned his head back to the burnt grass that was left from their bonfire, from the night before. “I really don’t have the energy to do that” he rubbed his eyes again. They felt dry and as if they were a second from popping out of his skull. He was almost too lazy to lift his hand or blink. He could feel as the poison was slowly taking over his body. He was worrying about how he would be able to go on with the search for Trillium. That was what worried him the most. He shook his head. He tried not to zone out so much. If he did, he would fall asleep ten times faster.

“Don’t strain yourself. Can’t you go to sleep even for a second?” MK asked. He was a little worried about his companion’s state. The demon really had a lot on his plate. Sticking to his principles and because of that, carrying this whole operation on his shoulders.

“I can’t. I used up the limit yesterday. If I do that now… You don’t want to be in that position”.

“Maybe you’re right” MK stood up. He shoved the empty packs back to his backpack and put it on. “Then, come on, we need to go. I just realised that we were kind of stupid last night. We stayed so close to one of the entrances. Even if it’s destroyed, they are probably looking for us” He helped the demon up. He was worried for a second that he would trip over. Red Son stumbled a little, but he managed to gain his balance.

“Okay, let’s go” he started walking towards the thicker forest, with MK following closely behind.

________

“So tell me more about that flower… that Trillium” said MK, slowing down for Red Son. The demon started to drag his feet on the ground instead of walking normally about two hours earlier. He was slowing them both down and as much as MK hated that, he knew that it had to be hard for the demon too. The boy could see that he was fighting the poison as best as he could.

“Do you really have to know?”

“I’d like to. I mean if you-” he gestured to all of Red Son “you know, then I’d like to have a backup plan. And if you don’t tell me where to find if, that’s fine, but just describe it. Please. What color should it be, the form and so on…” MK looked hopefully at the demon. He thought about it for a while. The boy could see as he was fighting with his thoughts. After a good five minutes, he came to a conclusion.

“I guess I can, but I’ll only say it once so listen carefully” Red Son stopped and leaned against a tree. It seemed like talking and walking at the same time was too much for him. MK also stopped and waited. When Red Son got a few deeper breaths, he started taking: “So it’s a flower like I said before. It has big leaves and a tiny head. What makes it easily recognizable are the three petals, which it got its name from. We are looking only for the white ones” he blinked a couple of times. “That should be enough for you” Red Son pushed himself up from the tree. He stumbled a little. He was getting weaker again. “Well, we should get going. I don’t like it here”.

MK looked around. It was true. The deeper they went into the forest the thicker it got. He stopped seeing the clearing as soon as they started walking away from the camp and now the trees got so thick that the light stopped coming through the leaves a while ago. It was dark, even though it was close to noon and the sun was almost in the highest position. You could say that it was spooky knowing all that and still not seeing any light.

“Me too” he said and looked back at the demon. He was standing, but MK could see that he was barely keeping himself up. “You don’t look so good. I-I mean, worse than before”.

“I think that this” he gestured towards his chest “is getting to me. Quicker than I thought it would”.

“Then maybe we should rest for a while-”

“Nonono, no, no we can’t. They could be on our trail… no, we have to go” Red Son started walking again, but his legs refused to keep him up. He fell onto the ground. “Au. That hurt”.

“Are you okay?” MK chuckled and helped him up. “Should I just help you walk? Carry you?”

“NO” the demon said “I mean, no. I’ll manage… I think” he let go of MK and started walking again. He took a couple of steps. The boy followed closely behind, smiling, amused at the demon’s stubbornness.

They didn’t manage to go far, before Red Son tripped again.

“Son of a bitch!” he screamed, punching the ground. This time MK laughed out loud. “Shut up and help me up!”

“Yeah, are you certain you don’t want help?” the boy asked leaning over Red Son, who was laying on his back. “Not even a little?” he pushed and the demon turned his head away from MK. “Come on. I know how hard this is for you, but you have to remember, that you’re not alone in this. We talked about it. Right now, we’re friends. So let me help you”.

“Okay. Yeah sure” MK helped him up and put his arm around his neck, to be able to carry him better. “And while we’re at it, we can make an agreement”.

“Seems fine with me” they started walking again. It was slower than before, but their steps were now more certain. With time they would get used to walking like this and it would be far more efficient than the previous stumbling. “What do you want?”

“Let’s just agree that for now I will be the brains of this operation. No more thinking for you”.

“Yeah? And what would I be? Just hanging around?”

“You, my dear friend, are the muscle” said Red Son smirking. MK looked at him, with a comedic wrath. Then the demon added quietly “Even though I fight like seventeen times times better than you”.

“Hey, that wasn’t very nice”.

“Maybe, but it’s true”.

________

“Do you think that they’re following us?” MK asked after another few hours. Even though their pace has gotten more even, without a doubt they were gradually getting slower. Red Son was relying on the boy for balance more and more and that made MK worry about their enemies.

“Definitely, yeah” said Red Son quietly. He had his head down and his eyes closed.

“How far behind us do you think they are?”

“Not far. A day? Half a day?” the demon sighed. “We stayed too long in one place. They’ve had plenty of time to catch up to us, even with the broken gate”.

“Yeah, I think so too” he adjusted Red Son’s arm on his shoulders. “Soo, we need to pick up the pace a little. Don’t you think?” it was a subtle nudge to the demon’s consciousness, to give that little extra effort in their journey. MK knew that he was already giving his best, but it didn’t change the fact that he was slowing them down.

“I know, I get it” he was really trying. He really was, but the poison was taking over his core and it made him weaker and weaker. Even his fire wasn’t able to burn it out of his body. He tried using the trick that worked on MK, but it turned out that it had effect only on external injuries. Something so deep, that was literally shutting him down from the inside, was too strong.

He tried picking up the speed, but it didn’t work. It just made him waver. The thick plants made it harder to put feet on the ground. He never really had to think about this stuff, but now his brain tried to do everything to exhaust him.

“Can we stop?”

“But, we just talked about, how we need to hurry-”

“Yes, but I… I don’t think I can do it”.

“W-what do you… what do you mean you can’t do it?” they stopped. MK looked at Red Son. He was half angry and half concerned.

“Exactly what it sounds like” the demon forcefully took his arm off of MK’s shoulders. It wasn’t a strong pull, but the boy just let go. He came up to a nearby tree, put his back up against it and slid down. He closed his eyes. All of his muscles relaxed and he sat there, motionless.

“Are you okay?”

“No” he stated.

“But, you said that the poison wouldn’t fully take over for at least two more days!” MK was worried. That fact implied that Red Son underestimated the strength of the poison, or just straight up lied to him. But that wasn’t something he had the time to worry about now. “Okay, you know what? No. We traveled for only a couple of hours, we can’t give up now! Even with your condition, you have to fight!”

“Don’t you understand that I can’t? This thing will kill me before I take three steps. I tried so hard to get somewhere and to help you, but… I just can’t anymore” he opened his eyes. MK could see that the spark of flame that lingered somewhere in his eyes from the very beginning, was almost gone.

“I’m sorry” he said quietly and he kneeled in front of the demon. “You could have just told me” he was met with silence. Red Son also avoided eye contact.

MK started to set up camp. He really didn’t want to stop. He knew that if they stopped now, their enemies would catch up quickly. But now, he knew that he had to prioritize the demon’s health, even if it meant sacrificing his own. He was pretty sure that if the Nightmare went after them, he would send someone weaker first, to get to know their position, so MK was confident that he could hold that someone off.

He had to collect the wood and start the fire by himself. He found that seven times more difficult than he thought it would be. Even if they traveled together for a short time, he’d gotten used to Red Son just lighting up the ground with his powers. He wasn’t sure if the demon would eat anything so he didn’t bother taking out food from his backpack.

His companion didn’t move an inch since he sat down by the tree. It was concerning and MK was sometimes getting scared that Red Son had fallen asleep. His heart rate would pick up and he would shoot a quick look at the demon. And then as if he knew, his eyes would be open, just watching him. That was somewhat reassuring. But also kind of… weird.

“Would you stop.. staring at me?”

“Why?”

“I mean, it is kind of creepy…” said the boy, trying not to look at the other one. He did feel kind of uncomfortable with it. Mostly because he couldn’t describe the emotion that he saw inside the demon’s eyes.

“Sorry ‘bout that, but I can’t move right now so… you’re gonna have to excuse me” MK came up to him.

“I think it’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen you” he laughed a little. He wanted to make the most of a horrible situation. He figured out that laughing was not the best thing to do, when the demon’s eyes flickered angrily.

“Good for you” said Red Son and they looked at each other for a minute. “You wanna ask about something or?”

“Not really” MK came up to him. “I am a little worried though. You know in a couple of hours the sun is going to set and” he looked up at the trees “the little light we have now is going to fade completely”.

“So?”

“You know, I’m not sure if I can keep you safe-”

“Me? You, me?”

“Yes stupid. You aren’t exactly in the condition to even… lift a finger, are you even aware of that?” the boy lifted up his hand and poked Red Son’s side. The demon shivered, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t turn his head so he tried to put his anger into his eyes. It didn’t exactly work very well. “You are too tired. Give it a rest. You’re starting to be insufferable".

“Well, thank you for lifting my spirits”.

Red Son was sarcastic. He hated himself for it, but he was too tired to care. Right now he was too tired to even think straight. He wished that his mother was here. Or his father. Their presence always seemed to calm him down. And right now he really needed that. He was scared. He was scared to die. He’s never felt this way before. He was so close to death at least a thousand times in his life and this is when the fear catched up to him. In the worst possible moment. When he was too tired to move a muscle.

“Okay, I’m sorry” MK could see that something in Red Son’s brain was working. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. He could see that Red Son was similar to him in some ways and he knew that overthinking was never a good sign, not in people like them… generally it wasn’t a good thing to do. “You just don’t look very well. I mean, worse by the second”.

“Well, sucks to be me I guess”.

“Stop it, will you? I know it’s hard on you, but you don’t have to be so mean. We really don’t have time for that anymore. Please, just go easy on yourself” MK said putting a hand on Red Son’s head. He patted his hair, trying to calm both of them. “Now, will you be okay?”

“In which way? Emotionally, mentally… physically?” the demon asked, chuckling slightly. He didn’t like being in this position. Such a vulnerable one. “Because physically I’m not so great and the other two? I think you can guess”.

“Just… stop thinking for some time. I think that that’s your problem” he shifted his hand to the demon’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s our problem, really” they both laughed.

Their heads turned as something rustled in the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not posting for a pretty long time. My mental health has really not been that great ever since November started, but I'm working on it. So a big thank you to anyone who read this chapter.


	7. CHAPTER 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than the previous ones. I think you can see the moments in which I got a little carried away... Anyway enjoy^^

MK was scanning the trees right outside their camp. He was sure he heard something and from Red Son’s reaction, he was sure that the demon heard it too. The boy was on high alert, cursing himself out in his head for getting relaxed. They couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Not now, when they weren’t in the best condition.

They were one man down and if the Nightmare or the Spider Queen found them now, it would be too early. Their slim chances of winning and getting the antidote in time were getting reduced by the second and with the enemy catching up, they would be close to nonexistent. MK was beginning to think that only a miracle would allow them to finish their journey as planned. He really hoped that whatever was hiding out of their sight was just a lost animal and nothing else.

“What do you think it is?” he asked Red Son quietly. They both knew that they couldn’t see a thing and this question was asked purely to ease their nerves. But it was better than being in constant fear of their surroundings.

“Definitely not an evil spy” the demon said. “No soldier would ever make the mistake of revealing themself so close to enemy territory”.

“I hope you’re right. If you’re not-” MK shook his head “well, let’s not think about it” he stood up and went over to his backpack. He picked it up and after a moment of thinking he picked up the Staff as well. It was better to be prepared. “Do you want to eat something? It’s been two days since you touched anything, maybe more. If this goes on for a little longer you will starve”.

“And you will be killed by your nerves, Noodle Boy” he joked. His eyes shifty, looking over to the edge of their camp. MK noticed and looked over his shoulder, to also stare at it for a second. Red Son spoke up, turning the boy’s attention back to him. “Give me what you have. What normal people eat”.

“Oh, I don’t know if you’ll be satisfied by the… human food, Your Highness” MK bowed mockingly, taking out of his bag a bottle of water and some cookies. Then, he settled down before Red Son once again.

“How many of those do you even have?” the demon asked, referring to the pack of cookies. “I’m pretty sure I saw you eat two packs yesterday”.

“Ummmm…” MK laughed nervously. When he barged into his house to take some clothes and resources for their journey, he took a lot of those cookies, because that was what was standing on the counter back then. And by a lot he meant, a LOT. Now he almost regretted it, but he had bigger things to worry about than Red Son’s tastes. He shook his head. “Nevermind that. Eat up.”

MK took one pack of the cookies and started eating. He ate for a while, before noticing the silence around him. He looked up from his food and saw the demon still sitting there. He didn’t move an inch to take the food or water. The boy found that weird. His supplies didn’t look that uninviting.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“Cuz I can’t?” Red Son once again looked at him like he was unbelivably stupid. MK thought about it for a while. Then it clicked.

“Oh, right. Sorry” he said quickly. He picked up the water and unscrewed the cap. He helped Red Son in drinking it, with the demon only assuring that MK won’t spill the water all over him.

It went on for a while, with MK helping Red Son drink and eat. It was a great thing to take their minds off of the thought of an enemy, lurking in the shadows. The fact that MK had never done anything like this before, combined with his natural clumsiness, was already disaster enough.

When they both finished eating, they just went back to anxiously sitting around, looking over their shoulders. The conversation just wasn’t there and topics were also nonexistent. One would think that when you finally sit down with your enemy to have a talk, there would be a million questions to ask. Yet MK felt like he knew enough. It wasn’t the first time they sat down, true, but it still felt like that way. The previous one was.. questionable at best. In the middle of the night when neither of them was in the right mind. Now, MK was awake and thinking. Red Son also seemed conscious, despite being so worn out he could barely keep his eyes open. It was certainly a time to have some sort of a conversation. More so, given the fact that they could be dead in the next 24 hours, the demon, even quicker.

“Is there something that you want to ask about?” MK jumped, noticing that he was staring at Red Son the whole time. It definitely looked suspicious.

“No?”

“Yeah, sure… I don’t believe it. You’ve been staring at me blankly for some time now. I gotta say, it’s unsettling” Red Son raised an eyebrow. He was waiting for the question. Now MK had to ask something, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, when he thought of the demon.

“Fire!” he said and cleared his throat awkwardly. “I wanted to ask about your fire. Are you immune to it? I’ve always wondered. I know that you can summon it at will, but how does it work?”

“Um… I am immune to my fire, but I think that a natural fire would hurt me.. I mean, I never tried to risk it and when I walk into the natural fire I always coat myself in a layer of my own. Just for safety. I know that my flames will heal me if needed. But fire on it’s own is unpredictable, I can control it, but it never really feels like my own. So I just don’t risk it”.

“Okay, but you’re a scientist and a mechanic in one. Don’t you use one of those blowtorches for stuff?” Red Son laughed at this comment.

“That’s a human thing. I don’t use such… tools. I’ve got my own, way safer for me and more dangerous to you. So everyone is happy” he said.

“Well, I don’t know about that” MK muttered.

“What?”

“Nevermind” the boy shook his head smiling a little. “Do you have something you want to ask about?”

Red Son thought for a minute. He never really thought about MK. He did scheme against him, but never took the time to consider him as someone who had a goal. To the demon, the goal was making his father stronger by getting the Monkey King’s Staff, but he never thought about the so-called other side of the coin. He obviously knew that he was hurting people, but that never really mattered. Before the city was poisoned they were on different sides. The good and evil. But now when those black and white sides melted into something greyish, he was pushed to consider the motivation of the other side, of MK. So he sighed and asked:

“Don’t you get bored or tired from all of this? Saving people? I mean how long can you go on, when the other side always comes back to fight with something even worse?”

“It’s the same for you. Why do you come back to fight? Even better question, why are you here? I want to save people, it makes me feel needed, like I’m not a failure. Plus, I’ve got morals you know? I’m not some heartless jerk that got power and used it to destroy everything in his path” MK joked.

“Heartless..” Red Son was collecting his thoughts. Then he slowly asked: “Do you think I’m heartless?”

“Back in the day, yes. Now, no. I understand that you’re doing this for your family and that isn’t something a heartless person would do. As we humans say it, you’re not some demon”.

“Oh excuse me, I’m great with being a demon, thank you very much” Red Son acted annoyed for a second, but then they started laughing. It was really relaxing, just talking.

“You know, I’m glad we’re-”

MK stopped mid sentence and bolted up. He heard it again. It had been such a long time since the rustle outside the camp that he almost forgot. Holding his Staff he decided that was enough and he had to go check it out on his own.

He left Red Son at the tree and with his guard up, he approached the edge of their camp. He still couldn’t see much, which was a big inconvenience in this situation. If he had any light, his search might have been more effective. But stuck to only his Staff he roamed through the trees outside their little camp blindly. He hit every bush he came across, hoping it was some kind of animal that he could just scare away.

And it was an animal, but the problem was the kind. It was a spider, the size of a dog. It had big legs and greenish colour that helped it blend into the surroundings. The only thing that drew attention were glowing, purple eyes. The boy didn’t have time to take a closer look, because as soon as the spider saw MK, it ran away. 

MK rushed back to the camp tripping over his legs and stopping inches from Red Son.

“What happened!?” asked the demon, but the boy just put his hand over his mouth, before he could say anything else.

“Shh. They’re here. You were right. They’ve been observing us since we heard that first rustle, maybe even longer” he took the hand off of Red Son’s mouth. “We need to get out of here”.

“We can’t. You can, I have to stay. Go search for the antidote on your own and do something about that sleep. I’ve told you everything you should know to find it. You’ll manage” Red Son said and MK was confused. That was a sudden change of heart in Red Son, who was so determined to not let MK do this alone.

“What do you mean?”

“I meant what I said. Go” Red Son couldn’t move, but his eyes started firing up in determination. “You really don’t need me”.

“No. I’m taking you with me. After what we did to them they won’t let you just fall asleep. They’ll tear you to shreds! Or worse!” MK started to put the demon’s arm around his shoulders, helping him up. “I won’t leave you here”.

The boy was determined. He understood Red Son’s point perfectly. Hell, he even knew that what he was doing right now was far more risky than just leaving the demon there. But he couldn’t do that. No matter how illogical his actions seemed. Right now, they were friends, or not enemies and MK was going to save all of his friends. Every single one.

He left his bag in the camp. He took only the Staff, which was supposed to help him protect himself and Red Son. He tried to run with the demon on his shoulders, but it was really impossible, when he had to carry the weights of the two of them all on his own. So it ended up being some sort of speed walk.

“Just leave me, you stupid bastard!” Red Son shouted straight into MK’s ear.

“SHUT UP!”

The boy wasn’t getting it. Red Son was doing everything to help him save everyone, even at the cost of sacrificing himself. But why? It didn’t make sense, given Red Son’s personality. There wasn’t a thing that was worth to him more than himself. Or was there?

These thoughts were interrupted but a shriek. A high pitched sound that MK had never heard before.

He turned around and in the darkness of a forest path, he saw it. A violet sea. Hundreds of moving eyes of spiders were coming onto them. And they were moving fast. They weren’t only on the ground. They were on the trees, bushes, the road and hanging from the high tree crowns.

MK almost froze in place out of habit. It took a lot to power through it, but now he was driven by even greater fear than before. He was determined to push himself and start running. He picked up his feet and tried not to look back. He knew that if he did, it would slow him down even more. And then, he and Red Son would be lost.

He knew that the spiders were getting closer. He could hear their thousands of legs following them. It was bad. Really, really bad. If he only had any means of getting away quickly. Like a car or..

He tripped. He dropped the demon and both of them fell hard on the ground. He felt cold sweat on his neck and face. They were lost. But MK could fight. He jumped up with his Staff in hand and turned to see Red Son.

The demon was lying on his side and not moving. That wasn’t weird, as he wasn’t moving before, but something about him just laying there, scared MK even more.

He turned to the spiders that stopped a few meters from them, possibly startled by them crashing into the ground. They were looking at MK with their glowing, purple eyes, their legs still moving, as if they were waiting for something. The boy took a fighting stance and stood in front of them, monitoring if any of them were coming from behind. But it didn’t seem that way. There was something else.

That’s when he heard a groan behind him.

“I told you to leave me” Red Son said quietly. There was something really disturbing in his voice. The quietness that he had never heard before.

‘You know that there was no chance of me leaving you to die. And we both know that, that would be exactly what happened” MK approached the demon, never taking his eyes off of the enemy. “Are you okay? How much time do you have?”

“A few minutes. But there’s something you need to know-”

“Can’t we do it after I kill all of those spiders? It’s not really a great time to talk, you know?”

“They aren’t attacking for as long as I’m awake. They are demons, they feel my core. They know that I can destroy them, so they keep a safe distance right now. But as soon as I’m out, they’re going to eat you alive. So go now, save yourself” Red Son was looking at MK with determination. MK knew that he was right, the explanation made sense and he would be at an advantage if he ran away now.

“No. I’ve already decided that I’m staying” MK was also determined. Right now the two wills were clashing, one driven by reason and the brain and the other by the heart.

“You really are…” and the demon fell silent. Far too soon. The boy looked at him for a brief second and then looked again at the spiders.

There was a commotion in their ranks.

IT happened.

The spark was out.

The spiders launched themselves at MK. He successfully avoided a few of them and beat the others with his Staff. He felt as their hairy bodies touched his legs and arms. He was shaking them off, but more were coming. He was disgusted every time he touched one, but he had to power through it.

His weapon was more or less effective. Sometimes he launched himself into the air to escape, but more of them were coming from the tops of the trees. He beat them by spinning his Staff around and punched them with it like with a bat. He felt as some of their legs were torn from their bodies by the power the weapon had. He felt as he was squashing them like bugs and he saw as more spiders seemed to appear out of nowhere.

He looked around in a panic, not knowing what to do, when he saw some of the spiders gathered around the demon, touching him with their poisonous jaws. He cleared his way through them and picked up Red Son’s body. He then launched them with the Staff a couple of meters away from the enemies and laid the demon on the ground. He wanted to defend him.

The spiders circled around them slowly and nervously, like horses on a race track. Mk and the demon were now surrounded. It was something that the boy tried to avoid, but as it turns out, he failed miserably.

“Wake up, please.. Why now” MK was muttering half to Red Son and half to himself. He knew that he was at the lost position and was now desperate for some form of salvation.

A few spiders launched themselves at him, but he spun his Staff around and sent them flying across the enemy ranks. More jumped out, but he did the same this time and it also worked. He knew that they weren’t dead, but that was what he could do at the time.

“Come on!” he shouted at them getting ready. His shout seemed to annoy them, because if something was holding them back, now it was gone. All of them charged at once.

MK’s vision was now massively limited by all the legs and bodies of the spiders. He felt as two or three sets of jaws bit into his legs and arms. There had to be venom involved, because it hurt ten thousand times more, than when he was bit by a dog. MK screamed and fell down to his knees, being careful not to let go of his Staff.

“Red Son please wake up! I can’t do this!” He was really trying everything. He crawled up to the demon, beneath all of the spiders and grabbed his hand, so that the enemies wouldn’t be able to tear them apart so easily. “WAKE UP!” he screamed at the same time he was bitten again. He swung his Staff, but to no avail, there were too many of them. “Please, there are people who need you right now. Not only me, but all of the people in the city...” he cried. This was really the end. He wasn’t sure if Red Son was left alone by the spiders and if he was talking to a corpse right now, but he couldn’t think of anything else. “I know that you’re a good person. I know that you want to save your father more than anyone. Please, if you won’t do this for anyone, do this for him. I know that you love him… please… wake up…”

Mk hugged Red Son tightly. And then he felt it. A slow beating, but not the one of the demon's heart. It was something far more powerful than that. Like a little fire burning in his chest. He felt warmth spread throughout Red Son’s body and his. He screamed again as it made the wounds hurt more. Then suddenly he couldn’t feel the pain. More importantly, he couldn’t feel or hear anything. No weight of the spider bodies piling on top of them, no high pitched screeches that made his ears hurt, no rustling of the thousands little legs on the ground, just… nothing.

“You can let me go now” Mk heard coming beneath him. He opened his wet eyes a little and saw that Red Son was staring at him uncomfortably. He didn’t mind that and hugged him tighter. “Oh God, no, stop. You’re gonna kill me once more, NoodleBoy” the demon, still laying in the ground, looked around. “What the hell happened here?”

MK also looked around. Everything around them was on fire. Not the trees and nature, but the hundreds of charred spider bodies.

“Um, you?” MK shrugged, letting Red Son go and standing up. He turned around and wiped his eyes. He probably looked like a mess, with spider blood mixed with his own and tears on top of that on his face. Red Son didn’t look a whole lot better, covered in mud and some other fluids that MK didn’t want to know the origin of. The boy felt that the pain passing wasn’t only temporary, but it turned out that his wounds simply… healed. He thought that maybe it was something similar like the healing fire Red Son used for his burns, but decided not to think about it.

“Oh. Yeah, that looks like me” he said and also stood up. “Shall we go now? We’re wasting time”.

“Sure” and they started following the road again. Each of them thinking intently about their own sets of questions, to what the hell just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the 2nd season of Monkie Kid is really, really near and when I saw the trailers me and my brother kinda laughed, cuz Red Son coming up with an antidote for the Spider Queen's venom is.. in some way the concept of this ff. So that's funny. And also I know that this chapter left off with a ton of unanswered questions, but they will be answered in the next chapter, soo... yeah


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